Arcadia Bestsellers

Author and award-winning historian Russell M. Magnaghi delves into the delectable food history of the Upper Peninsula.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a veritable cornucopia of delicious dishes. Over the centuries, the shared food knowledge and passion Native Americans and immigrant of all kinds produced the region’s iconic foods and beloved restaurants. Mackinac Island remains the epicenter for fine food. Here one can dine on freshly caught trout and whitefish at the Grand Hotel before tracking down the island’s celebrated fudge for dessert. Afield of the island, visitors and residents alike can attend a Friday night fish fry virtually anywhere in the area, savor a juicy “Big C” burger at one of the many Clyde’s Drive-In locations, or just have a refreshing glass of beer at Tahquamenon Brew Pub in aptly-named Paradise.

Old Newtown Pennsylvania, now Greensburg has a long history in coal, viewed here in rarely seen photographs.

By 1771, a cluster of cabins flanked what would become the most traveled east–west road between the Allegheny Mountains and Pittsburgh. This settlement, originally called Newtown, emerged as the nucleus of a growing community later renamed for the late General Nathanael Greene. By 1799, Greensburg was already the first county seat and site of the first courts west of the mountains. With the coming of the Pennsylvania Railroad and bituminous coal mining, Greensburg by 1885 was growing, prospering, and bustling with commercial activity. Utilizing rare photographs, some unseen in sixty years, Greensburg concentrates on the city's evolution past 1900, into the years of boom and growth, and through the 1950s, hinting of future decline.

Discover the ghosts of former ski areas that made the White Mountains the destination it is today.

The White Mountains of New Hampshire are world-renowned for the array of skiing opportunities offered to every skier, from beginner to gold-medal Olympian. Today over a dozen resorts entice tourists and locals each year with their well-manicured trails, high-speed lifts and slope-side lodging. But scattered throughout this region are long-forgotten ski areas that can still be found. In the White Mountains alone, 60 ski areas have closed since the 1930s. Author Jeremy Davis has compiled rare photographs, maps and personal memories to ensure these beloved ski outposts that have been cherished by generations of skiers are given recognition for transforming the White Mountains into a premier ski destination.

In Enfield, Connecticut, the rich history of this New England town is enlivened by over 200 photographs from the 1880s to the 1950s.

Since its founding in 1683, Enfield has experienced a wealth of changes, including the inception of a Shaker community that made Enfield its home for more than a century, the emergence of an immigrant population, and the rise and fall of its two key industries of carpet and gunpowder. Thompsonville's carpet mill operation grew into a huge industrial complex and became the center of village life, while the gunpowder industry took hold in Hazardville, peaking in prosperity during the Civil War and subsequently declining as the need for wartime products waned.Preserved within these pages are a variety of images of the people who have contributed to the town's unique character. View rare snapshots of Enfield's founding families as well as its immigrant workers, and learn about the influence that the peaceful Shaker community had on the area, both in terms of fellowship and craftsmanship.

Jeremy Davis of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project brings lost locations back to life, chronicling their rich histories and contributions to the ski industry.

Hidden amongst the hills and mountains of southern Vermont are the remnants of sixty former ski areas, their slopes returning to forest and their lifts decaying. Today, only fourteen remain open and active in southern Vermont. Though they offer some incredible skiing, most lack the intimate, local feel of these lost ski trails. Jeremy Davis, creator of the New England Lost Ski Areas Project, looks into the over-investment, local competition, weather variation, changing skier habits, insurance costs and just plain bad luck that caused these ski areas to succumb and melt back into the landscape. From the family-operated Hogback in Windham County to Clinton Gilbert's farm in Woodstock, where the very first rope tow began operation in the winter of 1934, these once popular ski areas left an indelible trace on the hearts of their ski communities and the history of southern Vermont.

Some of Birmingham Alabama’s history has been lost. This book takes a look at this lost history and brings it back to life.

Birmingham has many notable historic landmarks today, but so many more are all but forgotten. The Bangor Cave Casino was once a world-renowned speakeasy. The Thomas Jefferson Hotel featured a zeppelin mooring station, drawing lots of attention from tourists. Other significant sites from the past, such as Hillman Hospital and the buildings on the Heaviest Corner on Earth, are unknown even to natives now. Local author Beverly Crider presents an intriguing and educational tour through these and more hidden treasures.

Department stores were a midwest institution, none more prominent in downtown Columbus Ohio than F&R Laazarus & Company.

For more than 150 years, F&R Lazarus & Company was the heart of downtown Columbus. Headed by the first family of American retailing with an eye for flair and a devotion to the customer, this uniquely midwestern institution won the hearts and minds of a community. Look to Lazarus draws on the memories of those who worked and shopped in this grand emporium to tell the unlikely story of a love affair between a city and a store. It was a love affair born of the solemn promise You can always take it back to Lazarus, no questions asked.

Read the remarkable story of one of the most unique and picturesque places in the Adirondacks, written by Sagamore's director, Beverly Bridger.

Great Camp Sagamore was built by renowned American architect William West Durant and bought by Alfred Vanderbilt in 1901 to be his family's Adirondack retreat. Vanderbilt and his wife, Margaret, welcomed family and friends, who enjoyed its sprawling grounds and elegant yet rustic buildings for decades. After Margaret's death, the camp changed hands and began to decline until it was rescued by preservationists, finally became a National Historic Landmark in 2000 after attentive restoration efforts. Today, visitors to the camp participate in maintaining its grandeur, learning about and preserving the past.

Ghost stories from America’s oldest city have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

The haunted history of St. Augustine comes to life—even when the main players are dead. Visit the Castillo de San Marcos to help a headless soldier look for a lost wedding ring. Or spot the ghostly boy dashing among the headstones at Tolomato Cemetery. And if you visit the St. Augustine Lighthouse, beware of the mischievous spirits who have been known to tie visitors’ shoelaces together! Dive into this spooky chapter book for suspenseful tales of bumps in the night, paranormal investigations, and the unexplained; just be sure to keep the light on.

German New York is an interesting history of the rich cultural heritage of this community.

German New York City celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the hundreds of thousands of German immigrants who left the poverty and turmoil of 19th- and 20th-century Europe for the promise of a better life in the bustling American metropolis. German immigration to New York peaked during the 1850s and again during the 1880s, and by the end of the 19th century New York had the third-largest German-born population of any city worldwide. German immigrants established their new community in a downtown Manhattan neighborhood that became known as Kleindeutschland or Little Germany. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the German population moved north to the Upper East Side's Yorkville and subsequently spread out to the other boroughs of the city.

Old Lyme, Lyme, and Hadlyme is a compelling tribute to an area that is extraordinary in many ways.

Where the Connecticut River empties into Long Island Sound, a community that eventually became known as Lyme was settled in 1639. The community ran up the eastern riverbank to what is now East Haddam, along the Sound to Niantic, and into parts of Salem. In time, Lyme was divided into small towns and villages: Old Lyme, Lyme, Hadlyme, Hamburg, Sterling City, South Lyme, and the coastal communities. The area is notable due to its people, many of whom were attorneys, judges, legislators, and governors; for its commerce, which brought ships from up and down the East Coast and as far away as the West Indies; and for its beautiful homes, some of which survive today thanks to a strong preservation ethic.

Explore the fascinating history of Willoughby, Ohio with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Located in northeast Ohio, Willoughby began as a community of mills and cabins clustered along the banks of the Chagrin River. The first settlers arrived before 1800 and were hardy New Englanders who brought their religious beliefs, their love of country, their respect for education, and their architecture to the wilderness.

By 1853, when the village was incorporated, they had established churches, homes, businesses, and schools, including a medical college. Before the century was over, the arrival of two rail lines and an electric streetcar company transformed the quiet little town into a bustling center of commerce and enterprise. Since then, Willoughby, known as the Courtesy City, has continued to grow and prosper while retaining the look and feel of an earlier era.

Historic homes still line its residential streets, while several blocks of the commercial district are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Slumbering beneath a shroud of deep forest and deliberate secrecy, Bachelors Grove Cemetery still exerts a powerful pull on paranormal pilgrims and curiosity-seekers around the world.

Shielding the orphaned burial ground from ritual and idle vandalism has also buried the rich history of this magical place. Still, its eerie presence has dominated the folklore of the southwest side of Chicago for every generation since 1838. Brave the woods with Ursula Bielski to unearth decades of mysteries and myriad ghost stories, from the Magic House to the Madonna of Bachelor's Grove.

Full of mystery, magic, and stories stranger than fiction, discover  local legends, lore, and tales of the supernatural that will keep you up at night.

The emerald sheen illuminating the Sabbatarian burying ground, 8 Mile River's misty figures which emerge at the Devil's Hopyard, and flying demon skeletons on Charles Island these bizarre haunts are uniquely Connecticut. In the ghostly lore of the state, the ambient ramblings of the Leatherman still ring out in the caves of Harwinton's forests and the former residents of the Hale Homestead continue to roam the attic at night. Join authors and Paranormal United Research Founders, Thomas D'Agostino and his wife Arlene Nicholson, as they recount bone chilling mysteries from Putnam, Canton, New London and many more shadowy corners of the Nutmeg state.

Connecticut Yankees at Antietam honors the brave soldiers who fought in the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

September 17, 1862—The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. In the intense conflict and its aftermath across the farm fields and woodlots near the village of Sharpsburg, Maryland, more than two hundred men from Connecticut died. Their grave sites are scattered throughout the Nutmeg State, from Willington to Madison and Brooklyn to Bristol. Author John Banks chronicles their mostly forgotten stories using diaries, pension records and soldiers' letters. Learn of Henry Adams, a twenty-two-year-old private from East Windsor who lay incapacitated in the cornfield for nearly two days before he was found; Private Horace Lay of Hartford, who died with his wife by his side in a small church that served as a hospital after the battle; and Captain Frederick Barber of Manchester, who survived a field operation only to die days later. Discover the stories of these and many more brave Yankees who fought in the fields of Antietam.

In these pages, rediscover the legend of Diana of the Dunes...and learn the truth.

In the fall of 1915, Alice Gray traded her life in Chicago for a solitary journey in the remote sand hills of northwest Indiana along Lake Michigan. Living in a fisherman's shack, she measured herself against nature rather than society's rigid conventions. Her audacity so bewitched reporters and a curious public that she became a legend in her own time--she became ""Diana of the Dunes."" Nearly a century later, the story is still a popular folktale, but questions remain. Who was Alice Gray? Why did this Phi Beta Kappa scholar leave Chicago? What happened to her soul mate, Paul Wilson? In this first-ever book about Diana of the Dunes, the mystery of Alice Gray is revealed by those who knew her and through new research. Excerpts from her dunes diary are published here for the first time since 1918. In these pages, rediscover the legend of Diana of the Dunes...and learn the truth.

Long before it became a premier residential community and a social, cultural, and commercial center, Birmingham was a pioneer village in search of an identity.

Birmingham, Michigan was born when the first three European settlers, John West Hunter, Elijah Willits, and John Hamilton, established taverns within shouting distance of one another on a trail used by Native Americans and trappers. The isolated outpost was soon a fledgling village with a railroad, mill, and foundry. '

Early leaders had high hopes that Birmingham would one day become an industrial center to rival its namesake in England. But the Industrial Revolution largely bypassed Birmingham, instead landing on four wheels at nearby Detroit and Pontiac. By the 1920s, the quiet and cozy village of church bells, ice-cream socials, and tidy storefronts was well on its way to becoming one of the most desirable communities in the country.

Craig Jolly draws on the extensive resources of the Birmingham Historical Museum to tell the fascinating story of Birmingham's transformation from a pioneer settlement to an extremely appealing 21st-century town that symbolizes, for many, the fruition of the American dream

Paducah, Kentucky details the historical transformation of this town, from its rural beginnings to its modern-day urbanization.

Established in 1830 and named by the famed pioneer William Clark, the city of Paducah thrived as a result of its position along the waterways. From its beginnings as a rural western outpost to its status today as a UNESCO-designated City of Crafts and Folk Arts, the tenacity of Paducah's people has sustained the city throughout remarkable challenges and changes. After enduring a brief Civil War battle, several catastrophic floods and a stint as an atomic city, Paducah has bloomed into a flourishing arts community. The City of Murals, the Quilt Museum and many other unique jewels attract visitors from around the world. Join historian John E.L. Robertson as he reveals the stories behind how this enduring river and rail town came to be the innovative, creative city it is today.

Boston University Hockey chronicles the many National Collegiate Athletic Association Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Hockey East, and Beanpot championship team moments; the myriad accomplishments of individual players and coaches, such as Rick Meagher, the "BU Four," Jack Kelley, and Jack Parker; and the overall legacy of achievement by the long line of skaters who have donned the scarlet-and-white sweaters. The illustrations in Boston University Hockey (including many that have never been published elsewhere) offer a compelling view of a team that has won more national titles than any other eastern college hockey school.

A close look at the Oceanside community whose history begins with the history of Long Island.

Captured in these images and words written by author and Oceanside native Richard Woods is the south shore town that was once one of the largest oyster-producing communities in the world. It is a place that, over the years, has attracted farmers, baymen, middle-class families, and millionaires. It has also drawn more than its share of visitors to St. Anthony's underground church, Beall's Zoo, the Roadside Rest, and Nathan's Famous Restaurant.

A charming collection of Bridgeport stories and historic images bring this eccentric, enchanting history to life.

In the late nineteenth century, P.T. Barnum was known worldwide for his traveling circus, but to the city of Bridgeport he meant much more. The city's mayor and benefactor, Barnum was also a mastermind at urban planning. Thus, amid Bridgeport's growing industrial factories, orchestras played from the bandstand at Seaside Park and bucolic hills surrounded Bunnell's Pond. In this collection of narratives, Eric D. Lehman captures the city's natural beauty and richly eccentric history. From the brave women of the Black Rock Lighthouse to war heroes of 'the nation's arsenal', from 'the tiniest general', Tom Thumb, to the tragic death of Jumbo the elephant, these are the best stories from Connecticut's 'Park City.'

With rare local accounts and historic images, the thrilling early days of Old Sebec jump off the page.

Old Sebec Lake is an intriguing look at one of Maine's most beautiful and historically interesting areas, containing a series of photographs as well as accompanying text that document the most colorful era in the lake's history. The photographs, which date from 1860 to 1950 and come mainly from private collections, illustrate a time of steamboats and tenting parties, log drives and spool mills, market hunters and 30-mile traplines. This was also a time of uncertain employment, boom-and-bust economies, and remarkable changes in transportation, all of which profoundly affected the lake and the communities surrounding it. Although the images tell the story, woven through the text are interesting stories about B.M. Packard, Fred Gates, Walter Arnold, and others whose lives contributed to the lake's interesting past. Accounts of the 1936 flood, the scuttling of the Marion, and the construction of The Castle are also included in the text.

Early Indianapolis was designed to only be one square mile, but as more settled in the Circle City, progress made its way across the Eastside.

Through their dedication to maintaining the character of neighborhoods like Woodruff Place, Fountain Square and Irvington, Eastsiders have banded together time and again to preserve the memories of landmarks like the Rivoli Theatre and Al Green's. Julie Young, a lifelong resident of the Eastside, celebrates one of the most culturally diverse areas of Indianapolis as she illuminates the strength and determination that would make any resident proud to call the Eastside home.

Sometimes the coolest places are right outside your front door. Learning about New Orleans's interesting and unique culture has never been so super fun!

Did you know Mardi Gras is one of the most famous city-wide parties in the world? Or that the famous jazz musician Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans? Have you ever wanted to visit St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States? From the Audubon Zoo to the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Super Cities!: New Orleans covers it all and is sure to engage any reader with fun facts about the history, culture, and people who make this place great. Check out the Besthoff Sculpture Garden and attend a New Orleans Predators game, all right here. Take a peek inside to learn more about the impressive, unusual, super history of New Orleans!

With photographs collected from the relatives of its founding families, this volume focuses on the history of Redmond from 1870 to the 1920s. Included are many unpublished photos of the pioneer families, as well as rare glimpses of the railway station, early farms and schools, and historic shots of the Redmond Fire Department. Pictured social occasions include the earliest 4th of July celebrations, birthday parties, and Redmond's famous Derby Days, the country's oldest annual bicycle race, begun in 1939.

Blues history is steeped in Chicago's sidewalks; it floats out of its restaurants, airport lounges and department stores.

It is a fundamental part of the city's heritage that every resident should know and every visitor should be afraid to miss. Allow Rosalind Cummings-Yeates to take you inside the Checkerboard and Gerri's Palm Tavern, where folks like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Ma Rainey transformed Chicago into the blues mecca. Continue on to explore the contemporary blues scene and discover the best spots to hear the purest sounds of Sweet Home Chicago.

A literary and pictorial stroll through the charming and history-filled streets of New York's West Village reveals the history and little known tales of this fascinating and picturesque neighborhood.

Greenwich Village is a tourist's dream and a favorite weekend destination for New Yorkers. A part of Manhattan Island that holds its own amid the noise and confusion of the twenty-first century, it still retains much of the character of the old farming community that was part of the original settlement of Manhattan. The West Village, the northwest section of the neighborhood, is bounded by the Hudson River on the west and Greenwich Avenue on the east and is where it all began. Famous people such as Sinclair Lewis, Fiorello LaGuardia, William ""Bill the Butcher"" Poole, Frank Serpico, James Baldwin and Jackson Pollock, among dozens of others, called this neighborhood home. Stroll down the back streets and along the waterfront and peer behind the facades of these historic structures to discover its fascinating history, hidden secrets and little-known tales.

Since the development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation.

Photographs bring alive our image of the past and can open a floodgate of memories and nostalgia or inspire curiosity and a sense of history. The Damariscotta River has always been an important resource to those who have lived and traveled along its shores. From Jefferson at the head of Damariscotta Lake to the bridge at Damariscotta and eventually on to the sea at Christmas Cove, this small but adaptable body of water has fostered a wide range of human activities. The fishing, shipbuilding, and brick-making industries were the first to harvest and harness the river. As these industries eventually declined and word of the scenic beauty and simple charm of the region spread, summer cottages, and camps began to appear along the river's banks. Today, the Damariscotta River region is an evocation of Maine life past and present, and it remains one of the most captivating and extraordinary regions in the Northeast.

Join author and educator Evelyn Scales Thompson, Ph.D. as she recounts the rich history of the black communities in and around Surry County, North Carolina

From slavery in the 1800s to freedom in the 1950s, Black America Series: Around Surry County traces the footsteps of African Americans through their transition from house servants and field hands to landowners, farmers, and successful small business proprietors. This detailed pictorial history celebrates and honors the strong faith, courage, and determination of the Surry County area's black community.